


Divulgence

by SailorChibi



Series: agentironhawk verse [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aftercare, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst with feels, Aromantic Character, Aromantic Natasha Romanov, Asexual Character, Asexual Natasha Romanov, Bisexual Tony Stark, But they're not, Comfort, Communication is hard, Cuddling, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone lives, Hurt Natasha Romanov, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Tony, Multi, Nightmares, Non Age of Ultron Compliant, Open Relationships, Panic Attacks, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic bed sharing, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Presumed Dead, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Phil Coulson, Protective Steve Rogers, SHIELD Missions, SHIELD is still a thing, So much angst, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Talking, Team as Family, Threesome - M/M/M, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, a non-hydra thing, amicable break-ups, and everyone's eventually happy, and they grow closer afterwards as just friends, break-ups, but it's very friendly, no actual characters die in the making of this fic, non-sexual affection, note the happy ending, open relationships are not for everyone, steve and tony break up, talking matters, that's a spoiler but IDC, there's a lot of yelling actually, they all have tempers, tony believes they're dead, tony doesn't fully believe clint and phil love him, tony is very happy with clint and phil, tony loves to be touched, tony needs to be touched, tony yells at fury, touch starved, use your words everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-09-28 04:46:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10072475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: Three weeks after he and Steve have their date to talk, Tony knows things aren't working out. He just doesn't love Steve the way he loves Phil and Clint. And that's okay, because it turns out that Steve feels the same way. Only... Tony wishes he could tell Phil and Clint about his decision. But he can't.Because they've been away on a SHIELD mission for over a month, and now SHIELD says they're missing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to a fic where everyone, myself included, kind of wanted Tony and Steve to break up. Lucky for all of us, a very kind anon got in touch with me a couple months ago and wanted to commission that very sequel, with an ultimately happy ending. I am very pleased to oblige.

"Tony. Babe, spread your legs for me."

Half-asleep, but rapidly waking up as his brain started to recognize the body behind him and what was happening, Tony obeyed, sliding his right leg forward. It was hot under the covers, but not to the point where it was uncomfortable when Clint pressed closer, breathing heavily in his ear as he lined his slick cock up with Tony's asshole and slowly pushed in. There was a lot of pressure for a few seconds, during which Tony just tried to remember how to breathe, and then Clint's hips came into contact with his buttocks. 

"Mm... best way to wake up ever," Tony mumbled, clenching down just to hear the way that Clint stuttered on a moan. He looked over his shoulder, meeting Clint's dark eyes and crooked smile, and pursed his lips in silent request. Clint kissed him instantly, his hand warm on Tony's cheek. They exchanged slowly, lazy kisses for a couple of minutes before Clint broke the kiss to huff a laugh when Tony squirmed.

"I like to think that my wake-ups are at least on par with one of Phil's blowjobs," he said thoughtfully, wrapping his leg over Tony's knees to hold him still. "Hey, don't, okay? I want to just - just let me do all the work."

That was a little weird, but Tony quickly forgot about it in the wake of what was possibly the slowest, laziest sex he'd ever had. Clint rocked against him, nibbling at the back of Tony's neck and shoulders, for close to half an hour before Tony registered the sound of the shower shutting off in the other room. Then Clint sighed, sliding a hand across Tony's belly and down to his cock. Tony's eyes fluttered shut, mouth half-open as Clint stroked his cock until he came. It felt a little bit like the world turned itself inside out, especially when Clint groaned his name in this rough voice that never failed to make Tony hot.

"Mother of god, Clint," he gasped out, clutching at the sheets. 

"I'll second that." Phil had evidently stepped out of the bathroom just in time to catch the last part of the show. He was staring at them with a hungry look in his eyes, and the towel around his waist was dented noticeably. Clint smirked at him and lifted his hand to his face, slowly licking Tony's come off his fingers. He sucked his index finger into his mouth and Phil actually growled.

"It's your own fault," Clint said around his fingers. "You were the one who said there wasn't enough time for sex before we go, and then you went and took the longest shower ever. You know how much I hate having to prove you wrong."

"Wait, go where?" Tony said, brain finally back online. He grimaced as Clint pulled out of him but tried to ignore the mess, looking up Phil. "You're leaving?"

"SHIELD mission," Phil said with genuine regret. 

"Top secret?" Tony guessed. He didn't need Phil's wince to know that he'd hit the mark. It was the number one most frustrating thing about working on the team with secret agents. Tony was of the opinion that Clint and Natasha shouldn't be sent out on SHIELD missions anymore. Both of them were well-known to the public as Avengers, so no matter how much they changed their appearances there was much higher chance of them being recognized during a mission.

Furthermore, he also thought that it was a conflict of interest for Phil: he was supposed to be the handler for the Avengers, but he also still operated as Natasha's and Clint's personal handler - meaning that when Clint and Natasha got sent off on a mission, the rest of the team had to make do with either Sitwell or Hill. And there was just no comparing either of them to Phil.

Those two words must have sounded a little sulky, because Phil came over and sat down on the bed beside him. He put a hand on Tony’s knee and squeezed. "Fury asked for us especially. He said it's urgent and that it’s something no one else is capable of handling."

"And you believed him?"

Phil smiled. "Unfortunately, I think he was telling the truth." He leaned in and kissed Tony. "We have to be there by 9am, and it’s already 8:30," he muttered against Tony's lips.

"Sure we can't push it back until 10?" Clint asked, watching the two of them avidly.

"Go shower, Clint," Phil said, pulling away from the kiss to give him a pointed look. Clint pouted a little but rolled off the bed, shaking his ass as he sauntered over to the bathroom. And what a gorgeous ass it was. Tony hated to see it go. It was even worse when he wasn’t allowed to know the details of where they were going because his security clearance wasn’t high enough. That was a bullshit excuse if he ever heard it. He was an Avenger! Security clearance didn’t get much higher than that!

"You know that I could hack into SHIELD's mainframe and get the details on where you're going myself," Tony said, finally dragging his eyes back to Phil.

"You could, but I'm going to ask you not to."

"That's cheating."

Phil laughed at him. "Actually no, it's not. And believe me, you don't really want to know. I'm sure it's going to be either somewhere very cold or very hot, and most of our time will be spent in uncomfortable places waiting for something interesting to happen." He slid his hand into Tony's, giving Tony's hand a little squeeze. "It just so happens that Natasha and Clint are usually the best ones at waiting."

"Then SHIELD needs to hire new people," Tony said. It wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. Actually, far from it. Even before he, Clint and Phil had moved their relationship to the next level, Tony frequently pointed out that maybe it was time for the three of them to retire. Of course, his words had fallen on deaf ears. The most attention he ever got was Bruce telling him that he just didn't like to share. Which was true, but it went beyond that. Tony didn't like the thought of any members of the team, but especially the people he was dating, going on missions where the rest of the team wasn't around to help.

"SHIELD already has the best." Phil kissed him again and then stood up to get dressed. Tony gave it up for a lost cause and flopped backwards, watching as Phil moved around the room. In a matter of minutes he wasn't looking at Phil Coulson anymore, but Agent Phil Coulson, resident badass. And when the bathroom door opened in a wash of steam, it was to Agent Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye, who came out.

Their goodbye was short and sweet, with only Phil's promise that the mission shouldn't take long to tide Tony over. He watched the bedroom door close behind them and sighed, suddenly realizing that the bed felt large and empty. He rolled out from under the sheets and wandered into the bathroom, wishing that Phil had woken them up early enough for Tony to jump in the shower with them. Or that Clint had told him what was going on so they could've joined Phil. Of course, that would've turned a half hour shower into a two hour long affair, but Tony didn't see anything wrong with that.

He took a lonely shower by himself and got dressed in Clint’s jeans and Phil’s t-shirt. Both were a little too big on him – it seemed that he was destined to date people who were taller than him, a fact that Tony was slowly growing resigned to – but it made him feel like his partners weren’t so far away. Even though, for all Tony knew, the two of them and Natasha had already taken off for some exotic destination. Or they could've been an hour up the road. It was frustrating that he didn’t know.

Rather than eat an equally lonely breakfast by himself, he went down to the communal kitchen. Steve, Bucky and Sam were all there. Steve was standing at the stove, whistling to himself and flipping two pieces of french toast. There was one piece left on the table and Sam and Bucky were eyeing each other like they were going to end up in a duel to the death. 

“Morning,” Steve said with a smile. He lifted an arm without looking away from the stove. Tony went to him, sliding under that arm and wrapping his arms around Steve. He pressed his face into Steve’s side, inhaling the scent of sweat and sugar. Clearly Steve had already been out for his morning run. Steve’s arm came down on his shoulders, squeezing him tightly. It was exactly what Tony needed.

“Hands off, Barnes,” Sam sqawked somewhere behind them.

“Fastest fork wins!” Bucky said. Tony didn’t have to look to know that he was smirking.

“I’ll show you the fastest fork.”

“Children, for god’s sake,” Steve complained when the sound of metal clashing filled the kitchen. “I’m cooking another batch, so stop fighting.”

“But this piece is here _now_ ,” Sam said.

“And the thought of cutting it in half so you both get a piece is beyond you?” Steve said, sounding exasperated. He shifted around Tony, flipping the two pieces in the pan onto a plate. He immediately dunked another two pieces of bread into the mixture he’d prepared and then set them on the pan. They started to sizzle. Steve picked up the plate and pressed it into Tony’s hand.

“Hey! I thought you said those were for us,” Bucky said.

“Tony’s being more polite than both of you,” Steve said dryly. “He deserves it. Here,” he said to Tony. “Sit down and eat this, okay? Food will help.”

“Don’t try to mollify me with food. I’m not upset,” Tony said.

Steve just gave him a look that said he knew exactly how untrue that statement was. “Sit. Eat.”

“Bossy,” Tony muttered, but he took the plate and went to the table. Both Sam and Bucky eyed his food hungrily. Tony scowled at them and wrapped his arm protectively around his plate.

By the time that Bruce, Thor, Jane and Darcy – and Tony legitimately had no idea when Jane and Darcy had arrived at the tower, but Darcy in particular was always welcome if she kept showing up to breakfast in a low-cut tank top with no bra – arrived, Steve had a mountain of french toast waiting for them. He took a seat at the table beside Tony and finally tucked into some of his own hard work, coating his meal with whipped cream and strawberries.

“Did Phil, Clint and Natasha leave?” Bruce asked in an undertone, leaning towards Tony.

Tony nodded, scraping his fork across his empty plate. “Up and out by 9am. They’re probably on a plane to god only knows where by now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s part of their job. I guess I need to get used to it. No different than when Pepper and I have to travel for S.I.,” Tony lied. Because it was different. It was totally different. Clint and Phil knew exactly where Tony went for those trips. Hell, they were more than welcome to come with him if they wanted to. If he went off the radar or got attacked or didn’t come home within a specific time frame, everyone would know exactly where to start looking. If Clint and Phil didn’t come home in two weeks, Tony had no way of knowing if that was normal or not.

Bruce didn’t look like he was buying it either. His expression was full of sympathy. “Maybe it will be a short mission.”

“Maybe,” Tony said, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

Steve turned to him then, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Did you want to go out tonight?” he asked.

“I don’t need a pity date.”

“Good, because that’s not what I’m asking for. I just want to take my boyfriend out on a date. Is that so wrong?”

Tony sighed, as though it was all just so much effort, and nodded. “I guess I can free up some time in my schedule.”

“Oh thanks,” Steve said, rolling his eyes. Tony cracked, grinning at him. He and Steve had only gone out on a couple of dates since they’d agree to try out this whole open relationship thing. It was an adjustment for all of them including Phil and Clint, Tony knew, and part of that was because they all lived together in the same place and were teammates on top of that. He still wasn’t wholly certain it was going to work between him and Steve, but a date seemed like a good step.

“How about we head to the movies?” he suggested. “And maybe we can get dinner first.”

“Sounds good.” Steve smiled at him. “Six?”

“I’ll be there,” Tony agreed. The date would be fun. But, since he and Steve had agreed that they would back off from sex or sharing a bed for the time being, he had the feeling that he would be spending the date trying not to think about the fact that he’d be coming home to a very empty and lonely bed for the foreseeable future.


	2. Chapter 2

Day nineteen. Tony stared at the glowing red numbers above the bed. It was one of Clint's quirks. Apparently he liked being able to see the time whenever he opened his eyes. Apparently, leaning over to grab your cell phone to check the time like a normal person was just too much effort. The red light was a little annoying, but Tony hadn't bothered to cover the clock. He wouldn't be able to sleep regardless of whether the numbers were up there or not, and against the light of the arc reactor the red glow wasn't that bad anyway.

"Anything, J?" he asked out loud, voice hoarse from disuse. It felt like he'd been laying here for hours, but even though it was 5:20am he'd only been in here for about twenty minutes. And then only because Bruce had pointed out that Natasha would kick his ass if she knew Tony had spent three days straight holed up in the workshop. 

"I'm afraid not, Sir. I've been scanning the SHIELD servers with no luck."

Tony closed his eyes. Yesterday, JARVIS had patched through a call from Fury. The call had been short and to the point. Phil, Clint and Natasha had gone off the grid yesterday around 9am. No one had heard from them since. All three of them had missed both of the scheduled check-ins since then. And the last call before they disappeared, which was from Clint, had indicated that their team was heading into a very bad area. Though the call had been short and to the point, Fury's tone had spoken volumes. The fact that no one had checked in since was a very bad sign. 

It hadn't taken much effort for Tony to decide that his promise to Phil to not go snooping around in SHIELD's servers was officially out the door, but the problem was that JARVIS wasn't finding anything more than what Fury had told them. Clint's last call had been logged - and wasn't it a knife in the gut having to listen to _that_. Tony knew what Clint sounded like when Clint was at the end of his rope, and that had been Clint past the point of no return - but there were no attached coordinates, which meant Fury thought he could be sneaky and withhold information by keeping it on paper. 

The thought of barging into SHIELD to give them all a run for their money was very tempting. It was only Steve's interference that had stopped him. Steve had pointed out, in that annoyingly calm way of his, that SHIELD had to be doing everything they could to find their missing agents. If they needed Tony's help, they would let him know. Which was all bullshit, but Bruce and Bucky had gotten in between them before Tony had the chance to point that out. Which was how Tony ended up here, alone in bed.

Twenty-four hours. Bruce had suggested that he give SHIELD that much, and Tony agreed. It was now 5:30am. That meant SHIELD had another three and a half hours before Tony showed up on their doorstep. The problem was, he wouldn't have put it past Fury to figure out where Clint, Natasha and Phil were and swan off to rescue them without letting anyone else know. Tony swore to whatever god was listening that if their three missing teammates just "mysteriously" showed up out of the blue before 9am, he was going to kill someone. He wasn't sure who, but heads would roll. Literally.

Grumbling to himself, he rolled out of bed and snagged Clint's robe, pulling the soft purple fabric around his shoulders. it still smelled like Clint a little bit, which was a mixture of deodorant, polish and these weird banana cookies that Clint had taken to favoring in the last couple of months. It was a comforting scent, especially since the bed no longer smelled like Phil or Clint. He shoved his feet into Phil's slippers and wandered out of the room, relieved to note that Bruce was no longer standing guard outside his door.

Tony made his way down to the kitchen, where he found that he wasn't the only one who was up early. Steve was sitting at the table, eating Oreos and drinking a glass of milk. He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment when Tony slunk across the room and settled into the opposite chair, which was probably a wise move on his part. All he did was push the bag of Oreos closer. Tony listlessly picked one up and pried the two halves apart, licking at the white icing. But all that did was make him remember how Phil disliked the white icing and would always scrape that part off to give to Clint.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, voice barely audible in the otherwise silent kitchen.

"No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

Steve sighed and dunked an Oreo into some milk. "Tony, I think..." He trailed off instead of finishing his sentence, which was so unlike Steve that Tony actually looked at him. In the dim light, Steve wasn't meeting his gaze. His face was flushed and he was fiddling with his cookie instead of eating it.

When it became obvious that Steve wasn't going to continue, Tony prodded him. "You think what?"

"Never mind. It's not the right time. You're stressed. We can talk later."

"Steve," Tony said, annoyed, "say whatever it was you were going to say. I'm tired, fed up, and I really don't have the patience to be doing this dance right now, okay?" He dropped his gaze back to his cookie and reached out to quickly dunk one half into Steve's milk.

For a moment, it seemed like Steve might argue or refuse to talk. Then, just as suddenly as he'd spoken, his shoulders slumped. "I don't think I can do this."

Tony lifted his head to look at him, but Steve was staring at the table like it held the answers to life. Honestly, there was a part of Tony that wasn't that surprised. He couldn't say that he hadn't seen this moment coming. Even though he and Steve had been on out on three dates during the past month, the old spark that used to be there was just... gone. And Tony couldn't even blame it on the fact that three of their team members were missing. This just wasn't going to work.

The silence dragged on. Steve got rattled and added, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know I said we could try, but... it's weird. I can't help getting jealous when I see you cuddling with Clint or kissing Phil. I thought that maybe them being gone might give me some space to get used to it, but I look at you and I know you're thinking about them and I just... I don't think I'm cut out for this open relationship thing." He spewed that out in a rush, words tumbling over each other.

"Okay."

"What?"

"I said okay," Tony repeated, biting into the milk-softened cookie. In the face of Steve's stunned look, he sighed. "Steve, I can't be mad at you. That kind of thing isn't for everyone. I knew that from the minute Clint and Phil told me about it. And frankly... I know how you feel. I'm sorry too."

It wasn't a lie. Part of Tony would always mourn what he and Steve had once shared. And he'd probably always wonder what might have happened if he'd never started dating Phil and Clint and had just gotten back together with Steve instead. Because he thought that he and Steve could've worked pretty well if they'd just figured out how to talk to each other. It was the communication side of things that had always been a problem, and Tony was learning how to get around that. But he wouldn't give up Clint and Phil for anything, and he didn't expect Steve to keep going with something that made him unhappy.

Steve looked so relieved, it was kind of funny. "I almost hate to ask this considering what happened last time I did, but... I still want to be friends with you."

"Idiot." Tony kicked him gently under the table. "You'll never be rid of me, Steve. Not even if we both live to be a hundred." He found it in himself to smile, hard though it was. It hurt a little to know that he and Steve were over for good this time, but honestly Tony had done a lot of his grieving for that relationship two months ago when he and Steve broke up the first time. He had, he realized for the first time, never really thought that he and Steve would make it this time, so it turned out that there was also a small sense of relief hidden underneath the hurt. He didn't have to try anymore. He could just be with Phil and Clint.

If they came back.

As though sensing Tony's souring mood, Steve leaned across the table and took his hand. "I know this is hard on you," he said quietly. "I thought a lot about what you said, and you're right. Natasha and Clint are our teammates and Phil's our handler. They shouldn't be out there alone, especially not without back-up. When you go to SHIELD in the morning, I'm going to be right there beside you. Once we bring them home, I'm going to formally demand that all three of them be put on inactive status."

"Natasha's gonna kick your ass for that," Tony croaked.

"I don't care. They're Avengers and they need to be here with the team, not out pulling stunts like this." Steve squeezed his hand. 

"Can we go now?" Tony asked in a small voice.

"We can go now."

It was kind of awesome to strut into SHIELD with Captain America, Bruce Banner, the Winter Soldier, Thor, and the Falcon at his back at 7am. Tony just wished it was under different circumstances so that he could've enjoyed the moment. No one got in their way. Maria Hill came across them and - for all of two seconds - opened her mouth like she was going to say something. Then she seemed to think better of it, closed her mouth, and actually stepped out of Tony's way. When he glanced at her, she mouthed the words 'good luck'.

Fury's door was locked, like that would really keep them out. Bucky broke the handle with his metal arm. Fury's secretary squeaked in dismay and started muttering something about payment, but Bruce hushed her up pretty quick as Tony kicked the door open. Fury looked up, wearing an annoyed expression, as the six of them trooped into the office. Tony was, for just a second, glad that he'd worn the Iron Man armor, if only because it meant he was actually a couple of inches taller than Fury when Fury stood up.

"Don't," Tony said before Fury could even open his mouth. "You have no idea how much I do not want to hear whatever you're about to say. Just tell us where their last coordinates came from, and then get the fuck out of my way."

"That's classified information, Stark."

"With all due respect, Sir," Steve said, shoulders thrown back, staring Fury down. "Three members of my team are missing. They might have been acting as SHIELD agents when they went missing, but they're still Avengers. We've never left a man behind before and we're not about to do so now."

Fury's eye darted from Tony to Steve and back again. "Very well, Captain. Let me get that paper for you." He rounded the desk and sailed between Thor and Sam, right out the door.

"I feel like we just got played," Sam said after a moment, staring at the door.

Tony retracted the armor from his right hand just so that he could facepalm. But of course. They'd played right into Fury's little plan, hadn't they? Because Fury couldn't officially sanction a team of agents to go in after Natasha, Clint and Phil, not when they didn't know exactly what the situation was. It wasn't safe for the other agents and, much as Tony hated to admit it, Fury had to take everyone's lives into account. 

However, instead of just telling Tony that and letting Tony take the lead, Fury had decided to play one of his dumb little games. He'd deliberately baited Tony and the rest of the team just so that they would come charging in and do what Fury couldn't. Knowing Fury, he was probably disappointed that it had taken them so long. Tony didn't know how, but someday he was going to get revenge on Fury for this.

"I hate that asshole," Tony grumbled under his breath, stomping out after him.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony lifted his right hand. The familiar whine of the repulsors made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. A savage grin crossed his face, unseen thanks to the faceplate, as he unleashed a fully charged blast right at the feet of a squadron of Hydra goons. The floor exploded – largely thanks to the illegal explosives that Hydra had been transporting – and bodies went flying. Many of them landed and did not get up.

Unsurprisingly, Steve had pulled his cowl back and was giving Tony a look of disapproval when Tony landed next to him. Tony didn’t care. They had a rule about killing, but it hadn’t taken any of the Avengers long to realize that sometimes it was necessary. There were an awful lot of crazy people in the world who wouldn’t stop for anything, and Tony had learned a long time ago that when it came to protecting innocent people certain lines had to be crossed.

In this case, considering that Hydra had kidnapped three Avengers, Tony felt it was more than warranted. He ignored Steve’s look and stomped closer to one of the goons who was still alive. The guy squeaked in outright horror when he found Iron Man’s hands grabbing the fabric of his lame suit. Tony hauled him upright effortlessly, slamming him back against the wall. The guy squirmed, but there was no way he was getting free.

“Tell me,” Tony ground out, letting the faceplate snap up. “Where are Hawkeye, Black Widow and Agent Coulson? Where are they being kept?”

“I-I-I don’t kn-know!” the guy stuttered, eyes darting around in panicked fear. He had the nerve to shoot a pleading look in Steve’s direction, as though hoping that Captain America might step in and help. Steve just stared back dispassionately, and he found no help from the rest of the Avengers either. Bucky actually took out a knife and started to play with it. The guy went dead white.

Tony smiled. “You better figure it out quickly,” he said pleasantly. “Or I’m going to give you to the Hulk as a toy.”

As if on cue, the Hulk roared somewhere outside. He’d been taking great pleasure out of destroying the tanks and planes. It turned out that even when you were ambushed, it didn’t really matter so long as you had a Hulk with you. The guy actually pissed himself at that, and Tony couldn’t help wrinkling his nose. He’d have to give the armor an extra thorough washing when they got home.

“Okay. Okay, I’ll tell you. Oh god, just please –”

“Tell me!” Tony snarled, cutting him off. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to pathetic begging.

“Black Widow and the agent are in the facility!” the guy babbled. “It’s two miles up the road, hidden in the side of a mountain.”

“And Hawkeye?” Tony asked.

“He’s dead.”

The words rang in Tony’s ears, but for the longest time he couldn’t understand what they meant. He was vaguely aware of Steve stepping forward and setting a hand on Tony’s arm. His mouth was moving, but Tony just stared at him blankly. Steve gently pried the guy’s suit out of the armor’s grip and pulled Tony back a step. The guy tried to make a run for it, but Bucky caught him and brought him down without so much as a blink.

The Hulk roared again, accompanied this time by a crack of thunder that had to be Thor, and Tony startled at the sound. It was like reality suddenly poured in through the fog, and he was surrounded by too much: Steve’s concerned voice, the screams and gunfire from the battle outside, Sam’s and Bucky’s equally worried looks, the smell of smoke and blood. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t. Not when Natasha and Phil still needed him.

Oh god, Phil. Did he know about Clint? Had they made him watch? Tony couldn’t think of anything worse. 

“Maybe he was lying,” Sam said, cutting through the chaos, and Tony looked over at him with sudden hope.

“Maybe,” Bucky said, but the blank look on his face strongly suggested that he doubted it. He didn’t have to add that this was Hydra they were talking about. There was no low too low. It was easy to imagine that Hydra had decided that Phil could be useful, having such close connections to SHIELD, and one Avenger was worth their while, but that keeping two Avengers around was asking for trouble.

Tony tasted bile. He swallowed hard, refusing to break down here. That had to wait until Phil and Natasha were rescued. “Let’s go,” he said, and if his voice came out shaky he prayed no one called him on it.

Steve clapped a hand on his shoulder, eyes bright with compassion and anger. “Let’s.”

There was no way that Tony could repeat the news to their other two teammates. Sam pulled Thor aside and whispered the news to him, while Steve tracked down the Hulk. Tony stood alone with Bucky, staring blankly at the ground. His heart was racing, and he had that burning feeling at the back of his eyes that meant tears were imminent. All he wanted at that moment was to go to bed with his partners.

The nice thing about the armor was that, with the faceplate and modulator, no one could tell that there were tears on Tony’s face when he joined the team in striking the facility. Hulk was particularly enraged, screaming himself hoarse as he savagely tore his way through the steel walls. Steve seemed to have lost any disapproval when it came to killing; the shield flew freely, decapitating anyone unlucky enough to be within reach.

These people had killed one of the best things that had ever happened to Tony. It was astonishing how quickly grief transformed into rage. Tony used his weapons freely, taking no pleasure out of seeing the agents fall. He wanted to kill all of them because they had taken something precious away, but at the same time he knew that wouldn’t bring Clint back. 

The scientists threw their hands up and ran when they say the Avengers coming. Tony let them go, knowing that they would be stopped by Sam, Thor or the Hulk, all of whom had remained outdoors to deal with anyone who tried to escape. Steve and Bucky were somewhere in the facility with him, though Tony wasn’t sure where. He’d switched off his communicator not long after entering, not wanting to deal with the voices of his teammates when Clint’s voice would never again be among them.

He drew to a stop, panting, to examine the screen that the scientists had been working on. His lip curled in disgust. Genetic experiments. How unoriginal. At least that explained why they’d kept the Black Widow alive and not Hawkeye. There had been rumors about how human the Black Widow was for as long as Tony had known her; Natasha maintained she wasn’t enhanced in any way, but that didn’t stop the rumors. It figured that Hydra wanted to verify and exploit the truth for themselves.

It was pathetically easy to hack into their mainframe so that he could see exactly what they’d been up to. Fresh rage ran through him when he found the files. From the looks of it, Natasha, Clint and Phil had all undergone torture. Samples of blood, skin, urine and hair had been taken repeatedly. And all for the most pointless result of all: inconclusive. Hydra couldn’t even perform their experiments correctly.

There was no record of Clint’s death, but that wasn’t surprising. Tony could pinpoint when it happened: there was a clear date after which no more of Clint’s data was collected. He wondered what he’d been doing while one of his partners was being murdered. Had he been in the workshop? Attending some boring meeting? Out on a call for the Avengers? Sleeping in their bed?

Turned out the grief was still there after all, hidden beneath the rage. He uploaded a virus he’d created a while ago; it would leech into any systems that this one was attached to and then infect and destroy any files. Once he was certain the virus was doing its thing, he destroyed the machines. His repulsors made quick work of it all, leaving behind smoldering ruins when he stomped out of the room.

Briefly, he flicked the comm unit back on. Amidst the cacophony that was his teammates yelling at each other, he said, “I’m heading for the basement seventh floor. That’s where the prisoner cells are.”

“Tony!” Steve yelled. He sounded pissed. “Wait for back-up!”

“Sorry, Cap. You wanna back me up, meet me there.” He switched the comm off again, not wanting to hear Steve’s lecture. Steve would corner him later and force Tony to listen to a very long, detailed lecture about teamwork, but right now Tony couldn’t bear it.

He aimed a missile at the floor, relishing in the way the floor exploded. He was taking a shortcut. He dropped straight through and kept right on going, blasting at each new floor he came to, counting them off. When he got to number seven he hit the ground hard and stood still for a moment, listening. It was dark beyond the light of the arc reactor, and he couldn’t hear anything.

Something rattled. Tony flung himself to the side. Ultimately, that move probably saved his life. Bullets sprayed the place where he’d just been standing. He felt the jarring impact first and then staggered as burning pain reverberated up and down his right side. Armor piercing bullets, he realized, as JARVIS’s concerned voice filled the helmet.

“Sir, your blood pressure –”

“Not now, J,” he snapped, taking aim with the repulsors. Hydra hadn’t had those bullets the last time they fought. Looked like Tony had some upgrading to do on the armor, and from the feel of his side he was going to be taking home at least one bullet to experiment on. He smiled grimly.

The shield came flying out of nowhere, ricocheting around the room. Tony heard the thump of bodies hitting the ground as Steve ran into the room. He caught the shield and yelled, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I want to see if Phil and Natasha are okay,” Tony said, unrepentant. He was grateful for the darkened room, which meant that Steve hadn’t noticed the puncture holes on the armor.

Steve glared at him. “We’re talking about this later.”

“Whatever, Cap.” Tony stepped forward. Steve fell into step beside him, and they slowly advanced down the corridor. It got lighter the further they went, until they emerged into an area filled with cells. 

It felt like Tony’s heart twisted in on itself when he saw Natasha. She was closest to them, pressed up against the glass. The look on her face when she saw them was so filled with relief and gratitude that it hurt. Her mouth moved, but no sound passed through the glass. So Tony settled for briefly pressing a hand to the glass before he moved on, leaving Steve to hammer against the glass with the shield until it shattered. 

Tony turned a corner. And stopped.

Phil was in the next cell. The walls were made of thick, heavy concrete, so he couldn’t have known that there was someone else just two cells down. Distantly, Tony heard the sound of glass breaking behind him. A moment later, Steve and Natasha joined him. He heard Steve’s breath catch. Natasha shot them both a confused look and moved forward, limping heavily.

It was Clint. Clint was in the cell, standing there and grinning. One arm was in a makeshift sling, and he was shirtless so the litany of bruises, burns and cuts on his chest were visible, but he was standing and _alive_. Tony made a pathetically desperate sound in the back of his throat. 

Steve freed Phil first and then Clint, the glass giving away beneath his superior strength and the shield. Phil patted Steve’s hand clumsily in thanks and then grabbed both Natasha and Clint in a tight hug, even though it had to be painful considering it looked like he had broken ribs. They hugged him back just as hard before Clint turned to Tony, his eyes overly bright.

“Hey Iron Giant. Long time no see.”

Tony couldn’t answer. Clint frowned. “Tony?”

“We thought you were dead,” Steve said by way of answer, glancing at Tony. “An agent told us you’d been killed.”

Clint hissed. “They considered it, but…” He let the sentence trail off. “Babe? Speak to me.”

It was the nickname that did it. Stupid as it was in the middle of enemy territory, Tony let the armor disengage. He spilled out, grabbing desperately for Phil and Clint. Their arms wrapped around him with equal desperation. He pressed his face into Clint’s shoulder and broke down. He could hear Phil’s voice whispering to him and Clint crying as well, but it seemed very distant.

Then Phil said, just as Tony’s knees gave out, “Tony, is this – are you bleeding? Tony!”


	4. Chapter 4

When he woke up, Tony was almost afraid to open his eyes. The one thought that kept spinning through his head was that there was a very real possibility he’d hallucinated Clint’s presence during the rescue, and that someone – probably Steve – was going to tell him that Clint was dead as soon as they realized he was conscious. So long as he kept his eyes shut, he could pretend that Clint was still alive. 

It didn’t work, though. He had to pee, and too soon he realized that he either had to move or wet the bed. Very slowly, Tony opened his eyes. He found himself staring at the ceiling of the bedroom he shared with Clint and Phil instead of the hospital ceiling he’d expected to see. Thank god. Tony loathed hospitals, especially hospitals that were filled with SHIELD doctors. All of them could use lessons in bedside manner as far as Tony was concerned.

He pushed himself to a seated position, grimacing as pain shot up and down his right side. A quick glance down at his naked torso revealed that bandages had been wrapped around his waist and ribs and around his right shoulder. Blood had seeped through the bandages on his shoulder, which was the spot that hurt the most. The arc reactor was, fortunately, untouched. He pressed a shaking hand over it and looked around the room.

Immediately, he spotted Clint laying only a few inches away. Phil was on the other side of Clint. Both of them were sound asleep. Relief shot through Tony, so profound that he had to blink back tears. It _wasn’t_ a dream, then. Both of them were alive and – well, mostly okay, he amended silently, studying the numerous bandages. Painful, livid bruising was seeping out from under the areas covered by the bandages. Clint’s left arm was in a sling, and Phil’s right ankle was in a cast. 

But they were alive, and frankly Tony was willing to take them in any condition. He sat there for a moment longer, just watching the rise and fall of their chests, before his bladder’s demands grew too great. His whole body _screamed_ when his feet hit the floor and he straightened up. It took every ounce of stubbornness he possessed to remain standing and not collapse back on the bed. Doing so would wake Phil and Clint, and they needed the sleep.

He staggered into the bathroom, biting his lip to hold back a moan of pain, and propped himself against the wall to pee. When he was finished, he managed to wash his hands. But the thought of making it all the way back to the bed was beyond him. Every time he moved his right arm, pain stabbed at his shoulder. It was hard to take a full breath – he might have some broken ribs from the feel of it – and moving in general was just agonizing. He opted to sit down on the toilet and take some slow breaths until he felt less like throwing up.

That’s where Steve found him, though Tony had no idea how long he’d been there for. He might’ve even fallen asleep for a little bit, leaning against what was turning out to be a very comfortable wall. At any rate, it felt like he blinked and suddenly he was opening his eyes to find Steve’s exasperated face staring down at him. Tony drummed up a sheepish smile. 

“Hey Cap,” he said, realizing as he spoke that his voice sounded terrible. “What’s new?”

“I’ll tell you what’s not new, and that’s how much of a stubborn idiot you are. You sent Phil into a panic. He woke up and you were gone.”

“I had to pee.”

“And you couldn’t call someone for help?”

“I learned to pee by myself when I was eight months old, thanks.”

Steve blinked. “Eight months?”

“What can I say? Howard wasn’t a big fan of how much effort diapers were.”

A shadow of anger flickered through Steve’s eyes, there-and-gone practically before Tony fully realized what he was looking at, but all Steve said was, “Time for you to go back to bed. Bruce says it’s just about time for your next dose of pain medication, too. Come here.”

He slid an arm under Tony’s knees and wrapped the other arm around Tony’s shoulders, lifting him carefully. Tony swallowed a groan, refusing to let Steve know how much even that hurt. He had the feeling that Steve could tell anyway, judging by how slowly Steve stepped towards the door. He turned sideways and edged through, taking care to avoid hitting either Tony’s head or feet against the frame. 

“Tony!” Phil breathed. He was sitting up in the bed, right leg propped on a pillow. Bruce was sitting on the side of the bed beside him. Clint’s eyes were still shut, but Tony suspected he was awake and just didn’t want to face the world yet. None of the Avengers slept well enough to ignore the presence of extra people in a room, particularly not after something as traumatic as a kidnapping. 

“I had to pee,” Tony repeated, tensing a little as Steve set him down. The mattress felt good against his sore body, he had to admit. It was even better when Steve rearranged the pillows, poking and pushing at them until they supported Tony’s back to the point where he was propped up without having to strain himself.

“Next time, tell someone,” Phil said. 

“You were sleeping. You looked like you needed it,” Tony said. Honestly, Phil still didn’t look good. He’d never seen Agent Coulson look this disheveled in his life, not even after an alien invasion. 

“You all need sleep,” Bruce said, cutting off the argument before it could gain footing. “Which is why I’m dosing you all up, you’re going to go back to sleep for a while, and then when you wake up you're going to eat something light.”

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Steve scowled at him. “And after you've eaten, we’re going to have a chat about how reckless you were being,” he said darkly. “I’ve warned you before about waiting for back-up when it’s necessary, Tony.”

“I wasn’t –”

“You also charged in without checking the room first,” Steve said. “You –”

“Enough!” Bruce said. “Steve, it can wait.”

Steve frowned. So did Tony. He had no regrets about his decision to go after Clint, Phil and Natasha by himself. He’d do it again in a heartbeat. There was every chance that someone from Hydra might’ve tried to kill the three of them rather than let them be rescued by the rest of the Avengers. Knowing that Clint had died while in captivity would’ve been hard enough to deal with, without having to live with the knowledge that all three of them had been killed while Tony was only floors away waiting for back-up.

“Go check on Natasha,” Bruce added, pointing to the floor.

Forgetting all about Steve, Tony turned to Bruce. “Is she okay?!”

“She’s no worse off than the rest of you. Actually, you were the only one who needed surgery.” Bruce shot him an unimpressed look and got up, shooing Steve towards the door. He came back once Steve was gone and picked up two pill bottles. 

“I don’t need those,” Tony said quickly.

“You’re taking them even if Clint has to sit on you while I shove them down your throat,” said Phil.

“I would totally do that,” Clint said without opening his eyes.

“You’re ganging up on me,” Tony complained. He didn’t really like pain medication. It had the tendency to make him feel like he was going to float away, and – with even less control over his mouth than normal – he usually ended up saying something that he regretted. 

But Bruce and Phil were both giving him a look that said they were serious, so he pouted and took the antibiotic and pain medication without much more of a fuss. Bruce checked his bandages to make sure that he hadn’t popped any stitches, then carefully wrapped fresh bandages around the ugly wound on Tony’s shoulder. Just one more to add to the collection. At least it didn’t hurt, even if Tony was already starting to feel a little fuzzy.

“I don’t want to see any of you out of this bed for the next twenty-four hours. If you need the bathroom, call Steve, Thor or Bucky for help. I’ll have food brought to you in a couple of hours and you _will_ eat it,” Bruce said, tone making it clear that he would accept no arguments. 

“Thanks Doc,” Tony said with a sunny smile.

Bruce lost the battle to keep his face straight. His stern expression cracked, peeling away to reveal a fondly exasperated smile. “I keep telling you I’m not that kind of doctor, but I have a feeling it’s falling on deaf ears at this point. You can thank me by listening to what I say.”

Tony saluted him with his left hand. Bruce rolled his eyes as he left. Once he was gone, Clint pulled and tugged on Tony’s good arm until Tony had slid off the pillows and was laying flat again. Then he sat up – ignoring Phil’s yelp – and awkwardly scrambled over Tony until he was laying on Tony’s right side. He scooted in close and very carefully draped his own good arm across Tony’s waist, somehow finding the one spot that didn’t hurt.

“There,” he said, satisfied. “I hate being in the middle.”

“You’re weird. The middle is the best,” Tony said. It was the truth. Being in the middle allowed him to keep tabs on both Clint and Phil at once. Plus, it meant that he was always being cuddled by someone.

Clint grinned. “I’ll always cuddle you when you ask, and you’re cute when you’re on pain meds.”

“Did I say all that out loud?”

“Yes, you did,” Phil said, squirming around until he was laying down too. He took Tony’s hand, intertwining their fingers. 

“I hate my mouth,” Tony grumbled. 

“I love your mouth,” Clint said. “It's awesome. Pretty sure Phil and Steve would agree.”

“Steve?” Tony repeated, and then he realized that they didn’t know. “I broke up with Steve.”

“What?” Clint and Phil said together.

“He’s my friend. My good friend. But I don’t love him like I love you,” Tony said. “And he was having a hard time with the whole me dating you guys thing.” He paused. “Besides, Sam stares at him a lot. I think Sam likes him. It’s not my place to stand in the way of true love.”

“Tony…” That seemed to be the only thing Clint could say. 

“You know you didn’t have to do that just because of us, right?” Phil asked. 

“I know. It wasn’t about you,” Tony said, not unkindly. “It was about me and Steve and the fact that we just weren’t working. I appreciate that you were both okay with it, but I don’t think an open relationship is for me.”

“Thank god,” Clint said under his breath. “Does this mean I won’t have to watch you two flirt all the time?”

“I like flirting with Steve. He’s cute when he blushes. Phil agrees.”

Phil was the one blushing when Tony and Clint looked at him, and his blush only deepened when they both smirked. “Not to change the subject,” he said, even though that was clearly what they were both trying to do, “but speaking of Steve, he was right. That was extremely reckless of you –”

“You would do the same thing!” Tony said indignantly.

“ – but I’m really glad you got there before anything worse happened,” Phil finished, squeezing Tony’s hand. “I could see the Hydra doctors starting to lose patience. Whatever results they wanted, they weren’t getting them. We probably didn’t have much longer.”

Tony quieted, feeling like his heart had jumped into his throat. It had been so close. Too close. “Please don’t be SHIELD agents anymore,” he said very quietly. “I know I have no right to ask that, and I know you love your jobs, but no one knew where you were. We had to wait weeks to pry the information out of Fury, and even then it was just your last known location. If that had been an Avenger mission, we could’ve found you faster. I know that’s a risk all SHIELD agents take, but –” He couldn’t continue. What was the point? It was just going to be brushed off again.

He was shocked when Phil just sighed and said, “Steve already discussed this with me. I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Natasha yet, but Clint and I agree that we’ll be strictly assigned to the Avengers team from now on.”

“What? Really?” Tony said, looking between the two of them.

“Yeah, really.” Clint carefully leaned in and kissed him. “You were right,” he muttered against Tony’s lips. “We can’t devote our time to being both a SHIELD agent and a part of the Avengers. It has to be one of the other. There’ve just been too many close calls.”

“And you’re okay with choosing the Avengers?” Tony asked, just to be sure. 

“Babe, I’m on a team with Iron Man, the coolest Avenger of them all,” Clint said with a smirk. “You’d have to pry that out of my cold, dead hands.”

Tony flinched, reminded of just how close that had come to being true, and Clint murmured an apology and hugged him. It hurt a little, but it was worth the pain to know that Clint was here and alive. He couldn’t help turning to Phil though, needing to know what his opinion was.

“It’s a choice we should’ve made a long time ago,” Phil said, bringing their clasped hands up to his face. He pressed a kiss to the back of Tony’s hand. “SHIELD can make do without us. You were right when you said that Natasha and Clint are too well known to work undercover I have a suspicion that’s actually what tipped Hydra off in the first place.”

“I knew I was right,” Tony mumbled.

Phil just smiled indulgently. “I’m sure that Natasha will feel the same way. I’m going to speak to Director Fury as soon as Bruce agrees to let us out of bed.”

“You might be waiting a while,” Clint said.

“I’m fine with that. Clint and I have twenty days of being gone to make up for. Almost three weeks.” It was Phil’s turn to kiss Tony, so gentle that Tony shivered.

“I should be the one making things up,” Tony said when the kiss was done. “I should’ve –”

“Hey, no. Don’t do that to yourself, babe,” Clint said softly. “There were things all of us should’ve done, but in the end you did exactly what you were supposed to do. You brought us home safe.”

“You’re such a sap,” Tony said, but then again he didn’t have much of a leg to stand on considering he was blinking back tears.

Fortunately, Clint didn’t call him on it. He just smiled at Tony and then yawned. With a wordless grumble, he curled in around Tony as much as he could with their wounded states and then put his head down on the pillow. Tony looked at Phil, who obligingly inched closer until Tony could rest his head against Phil’s chest. It had to hurt a little what with all the bandages on Phil’s chest, but Phil cupped the back of his head to keep Tony there when Tony tried to move away. It was easier to give in, let his eyes slip shut and drift off to sleep surrounded by his lovers.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
